Hey everyone! Really sorry for the WEEKS of waiting for this, and the shortness of the update! Was meant to have a second part, but I ran out of time to write it. However, I finally got my new pc set up and got LibreOffice downloaded, so I should be able to update regularly again! =D (Update to my other story, Wilde at Large, is next on the docket)
Chapter 11: The Big Meeting
"Good afternoon, I hope you didn't wait too long?" Mr. Big greeted as the massive polar bear carried him to the table and set him down in a miniature chair the bobcat provided. Nick noted that the polar bear was not Koslov, as it had been for years, but rather Kevin. "Sit, please," Mr. Big added, having noticed the others in the room had stood for his entrance.
"No, we didn't have to wait long, thanks," Nick answered for the group. "Well, Judy did."
"No I didn't!" the bunny countered, glaring at her partner, who was grinning down at her. "I mean it, I was here just a few minutes before Nick and since then we've… Uh..." She cut off, blinking in surprise at the bout of laughter from the shrew.
"Judith, you've no need to worry about my sensitivities, they are very few and very specific," Mr. Big explained. "That goes for you too, Nick, and Miss Vox as well."
"Um… Just 'Nelle', please," the arctic vixen requested. She shifted the coffee cup in front of her slightly, then slid it back to its original position, before realizing she should do something more with the cup than just moving it on the table. She took a quick sip, and set it back down, before nervously addressing the crime boss. "Mr. Big… If I may, could I ask what you have to tell us about the missing mammals?"
"In time," Big answered calmly, and turned to the bobcat waitress to request a cup of tea. "Earl Grey, cream, no sugar. You know how I like it." The bobcat nodded quickly, and retreated back to the kitchen, past Kevin who had taken a place by the back door.
"Angela is a good girl," the shrew stated once the waitress had left. "Soft-spoken, a bit on the shy side, but loyal almost to a fault. You need not worry about what you say around her, I known her since she was a kit. Her… Late father was a business associate and a close personal friend." Big leaned back in his tiny chair, elbows resting on the arms with his fingers laced together. "I hope you don't mind, Nelle, but I've just spent my whole morning talking business, and would prefer some friendly chat while we eat. We can discuss your case afterward. There'll be plenty of time to act on the information I give you, no need to worry."
"I… Yes, ah, thank you… Mr. Big," Nelle replied hesitantly. It was clear she was still very nervous about talking with the city's biggest mafia boss, their meeting in the office of Koslov's Palace notwithstanding.
"Good to see you, Kevin," Nick called to the polar bear by the door, whose response was to look to Nick and nod with a little smirk. The fox turned to Big and remarked, "Interesting to see you escorted by… Well, anyone but the big guy."
"Koslov is very busy with the management of his new club," Mr. Big replied. Angela came out of the kitchen then with a very small kettle and an even smaller cup on a tray, and set them in front of Mr. Big. The shrew thanked her, and she retreated back to the kitchen. "Kevin has been with my organization more than long enough to be trusted, and in the last few weeks has stepped up to the plate rather effectively." He poured his first cup of tea and added a splash of cream, stirred it and took a sip. "Judith," he remarked as he brought the cup down, "it's been a while. How have you been?"
"Good, good," Judy answered cheerfully, giving the shrew a bright smile. "I, uh… I meant to visit Fru-Fru the other day, but… Well, we kind of got caught up in this case. If we get the time, I'd love to stop in to see Little Judy."
"Of course," Mr. Big stated. "My door is always open to you. And your family, how have they been?"
"Well, uh… I call my parents twice a week, they're doing great. I was gonna take some vacation time this week to visit the Burrow, but now that's gotta wait, I guess. I'll have definitely earned the time off once we close this, though."
The bell above the kitchen door rang, and Angela came out, expertly balancing two trays on one arm. With the other, she grabbed a folding stand and set it up next to the table so she could set one tray on it and serve out the food. The first dish- a small bowl of roasted snails- went to Mr. Big, then Angela moved around the table. Judy was given a garden salad of fresh greens, cherry tomatoes and baby carrots with raspberry vinaigrette; Nick got a grilled salmon fillet with lemon pepper; and Nelle was served a crab salad. Angela stepped back from the table, gave a short bow, and retreated once more.
"That's very good to hear," Mr. Big stated once Angela had left, and picked up a snail, using his claws to pull the meat from the shell. Normally a shrew would use their long snout for such a task, but that was typically considered bad manners, particularly with prey species at the table. "Family is the most important connection that exists. There is no stronger bond than that between loved ones. Speaking of which-" He turned to Nick this time, and observed, "I recognized the workmanship of your suit, the other night at the Palace. Koslov relies almost exclusively on John Wilde for his tailoring needs. Might I assume that you've begun to repair ties with your family, Nick?"
"Oh, well… Yeah, kinda..." Nick chuckled, recalling his brother's sudden appearance that morning. "Mom wants us all to meet for dinner on Friday. It'll be at their house. I'll have to convince Jimmy to come along, too."
"Jimmy?" Mr. Big asked, then thought about it a minute. "Your brother, James? I thought he was traveling?"
"He was," Nick answered. He usually didn't tell people about his brother, mainly because it simply never came up. When he'd worked for Big, though, the shrew had insisted on learning about Nick's family. It was something he talked about with all his employees. "Guess he got into town last night, swung by the precinct to find out where I lived. Showed up this morning and drank half my coffee," Nick added with a grin, taking another sip from his cup.
"And your sister?" Big pulled the meat from a second snail and popped it into his mouth.
"Sam's still in Mamphis, if her Fuzzbook feed's any indication. She comes home every once in a while, but for the most part she's happy there."
"Well, she should be where she's happy," Mr. Big stated, and turned to the arctic vixen. "And you, Nelle? Tell me about your family, if you will?"
Nelle paused, her fork in the middle of spearing a lettuce leaf. She looked down at her salad, and for a little while was silent. Nick, sensing her distress, reached over and put a hand on hers. When she looked up at him, he gave her a soft smile and said, "Don't worry, you're among friends."
She returned his smile, then looked to the shrew and answered, "I… I'm an only child." She waited as the others around the table gave their surprised stares. She'd anticipated that. Foxes always bred in litters; for one to not have any siblings typically could only mean one thing. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and hesitantly continued. "My mother… Contracted a rare vulpine disease during pregnancy. When my litter was born, it was passed to my siblings… I got lucky." She took a deep breath, then continued. "None of the others lasted a year. My mother carried on until I was twelve."
For a while, there was silence at the table. All eyes were on Nelle. The white-furred fox looked from one to the next, then shook her head and smiled softly. "Sixteen years is a long time to move on. I'm fine." As if to prove this, she took a bite from her salad. "As for my dad, I don't talk to him much. I'd really rather not go into details as to why." She cast Mr. Big a pleading look, hoping he wouldn't pry further.
The shrew, understanding her unspoken plea, took a sip of tea then spoke to the group at large. "Now then, I feel we've sufficiently spent our idle chat. It's past time we discuss what you're really here for." He turned and looked to Kevin, and gave a nod. The polar bear approached the table, pulled out an envelope from inside his jacket and set it on the table in front of Nelle.
"Those are the employee files of six of my workers," Big stated as Nelle opened the folder and looked through it. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you, the positions listed in their actual jobs. Each of them has, over the last few months, disappeared. After the first two, I started placing trackers on all prey-species employees."
He finished his cup, then refilled it, speaking while he stirred in more cream. "With three of them, the trackers were found during transit and discarded before reaching their destination. The last, though, agreed to extreme measures. His tracker is sub-dermal, and was not detected. We were able to follow it to a warehouse in the Nocturnal District."
"So we-" Nick started, but was cut short when the Shrew raised a hand.
"A raid on the warehouse would yield insubstantial results," Mr. Big stated. "We've had surveillance on it for nearly a month now. It's only used as a temporary holding site. Throughout the week, vans are brought in, and cages are unloaded. Once the vans are empty, they leave. But every Thursday night, between 11pm and 4am, a truck comes in and the caged mammals are loaded in. The truck, once full, leaves the city. We've been unable to discover where it goes from there, but you may have more luck. Follow the truck, and you'll likely find your missing hare."
"It's about more than just the hare now," Judy stated, determination clear in her eyes. "Someone's taken dozens of mammals right off the streets. There should be a city-wide alert, but somehow they've been able to keep this quiet." She frowned, and looked to Shrew. "So… I take it you have no idea who's behind this, then?"
"No more than you, I'm afraid. It might help to ask yourself, though, cui bono?"
"Come again?" Nick asked, clearly confused.
"Who stands to gain?" Nelle cut in, having spent the entirety of Mr. Big's speech flipping through the papers. She looked up and added, "In Latin. If we can find out who benefits from the disappearance of all these mammals- all of them prey species, specifically- it might help narrow down the lists of suspects. But not enough to get any clear results, so we've also gotta find that truck."
Nick and Nelle both looked to Judy, who gave a nod and said, "I'll talk to the chief about setting up a stakeout."
